CVP Easy DCC vs Digitrax

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I am planning to rebuild by layout in a 25’ x 16’ room and plan to use DCC. I have narrowed down the choice of system to CVP Easy DCC or Digitrax. I would like to have tethered controls and eventually wireless throttles. I am assuming that any NMRA decoder (including SoundTrax) witll work with either of these systems.

I would like to hear the pros and cons for both of these systems including:

  1. Cost
  2. Ease of installation
  3. Ease of use
  4. Expandability
  5. Maufacturer warranty and support
  6. Bells and whistles (although this isn’t a great priority)

Any comments would be appreciated.

RL Bertka

2

The easiest way for you to decide which is suitable for you would be to download the instruction manual for each from their respective Web sites and read through them.

3

Both are good systems. If you get either one, you’ll be happy. Digitrax is THE player in North America. That means if something is made for dcc, you can be guaranteed it will be made to conform to Digitrax stuff. So make sure you take that into consideration.

Also, what is the dominant system in your area - I’m guessing Digitrax but I could be wrong. Anyways, sometimes it is preferable to go with the dominant system in your area. You will run into trouble, either because you don’t understand something, or something appears to not work, or you’re doing something wrong. It is helpful to have other people around you can talk to about your problems.

There was a thread at the Atlas forum in the dcc section about Lenz vs Digitrax. Debbie Ames (Lenz) came on and talked about the wonders of Lenz. A guy from Australia started a discussion about the availability of parts and other goodies; his comment was that Digitrax items always seemed available and people were enthusiastic and wanted to help. He had just purchased the Lenz system and was having problems with getting items he wanted. By the way, Lenz is the DCC company in Europe.

So the next issue for you is availability. If you want something very quickly which system is going to get it to you the fastest.

4

Rick,

Thanks for your input. I am not sure which is a larger seller in my area. However, CVP is located in Richardson, TX which is only about 20-25 miles from my location. I know that Digitrax is the big player in N. America and am a little worried that CVP might eventually go out of business since they look to be in about 4th or 5th place sales-wise. I have also heard that you can use your MRC power packs (I have 3) in conjunction with Digitrax, but am not sure how this is done.

In reading some of the other posts, it would appear that Easy DCC is actually easy to use. The local hobby shop sells both Digitrax and Easy DCC but are pushing Easy DCC. But that may be strictly a profitability issue. That is why I am soliciting comments from acutally users of both systems.
Regards,
RL Bertka

5

Of all the Digitrax systems, the Zephyr is the only one where you can use your present power packs (non-pulse power dc). But first, a little history.

When Digitrax first entered the market, compared to some companies, it’s dcc wasn’t one of the easiest to use. It was one of those deals where you had a throttle that did all things with only a couple of keys. So to change or modify or program the routine felt something like this. And the instructions would read: “Okay press this button, chant Ummmm, do the hokey pokey, turn around twice, and pu***his button. Now you’ve program the…”

So maybe I exaggerate a bit, but not by much. Yet even though it was not a system for dummies, people snapped it up. Why? Because Digitrax was so feature laden, no software upgrades, and everything just about was interchangeable with everything else; so out the door they flew. But there was a problem.

Dummies like me also bought them. And after we bought them, we didn’t do our homework so well, and consequently we whined and complained about how other systems were much easier, and you didn’t have to do the hokey pokey with them. And lo and behold, Digitrax listened. A variety of throttles for dummies came out. And so the three wise men, who were very wise in matters spiritual, but weren’t so hot in matters electronic, could actually use the new throttles (cabs).

But Digitrax went one step further. They hired an electronic wise man, and were curious as to what he had to say. He said: “Verily I say unto you, dcc still looks too complicated to the average ***. So we need to put out a system that looks and feels like the old power packs, can use old power packs for throttles, and is much easier to use.”

Well, one night as he was pondering what the system would look like, he looked into the sky and saw “The Star.” Being a wise man, he was programmed to follow “The Star.” He travelled three days and nights, and on the third night he came upon a manger. A

6

I have been an Easy DCC user every since 1999 and I traded my System One in for it. I have found Easy DCC it to be stable and durable and tough enough to run my 1800 Squre foot railroad. It is a great operators system.

You need to remember that Digitrax is a totally different animal that the Easy Dcc. Digitrax’s bus is actually a LAN for the system with both its good and bad atributes. It can do alot of things but alot of things can go wrong with it if you do not know what you are doing.

My recommendation is to test drive each system at a friend’s house, by running trains and programing an engine. See how the throttles feel in your hands and how easy it is to program and consist an engine.

Best Regards,

Bryan Lemonds
utahdivision.com

7

Both systems have that. However, I have found the CVP wireless to be the best. They are narrow so I can hold them easily in one hand and work the throttle with my thumb. They don’t have an extra wire hanging out of them to get caught on things like some others do.

That depends on where you buy it, which system you get (Digitrax ranges from the Zephyr to the Wireless Super Chief), and what options you get with it.

Both are going to be about the same. The hard part is going to be wiring that big of a layout, totally unrelated to the DCC unit itself.

I love the CVP & Zephyr panel mount control box. If you choose a different Digitrax system the controls will be in the primary wired throttle.

Expandability for what? Each is going to have boosters for extra power blocks, each can have various throttles added. With the Digitrax system if you buy the Super Chief there isn’t much you need to expand too, on the other hand if you get the Zephyr (like mine) there are lots of expansions available.

That should be in the manuals and posted on their web sites. I’ve called Keith Gutteriz <sp?> of CVP several times on Saturday morning and chatted about various things.

Once again the best source for this is the web sites and sales information. What some people consider bells and whistles others consider worthless tripe.

I say you can’t go wrong with either company. But it wo

8

My opinions:

I must admit I’d need to do research, it depends on which Digitrax system you choose, and what extras you’d need.

About the same

CVP wins here, IMO.

Only “expansion” would be adding throttles and boosters for CVP.

Excellent for CVP, haven’t dealt with Digitrax.

This is a function of your engines and decoders, not the DCC system directly. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist)

As you may see I’m biased toward CVP.

Brad

9

I have all the Digitrax I would ever need, and I have no regrets, but if I was to completely replace everything I would give CVP a real long look, especially if you can still get their equipment in kit form and save a few bucks.

I originally chose Digitrax in 1998 because of LocoNet and the fact that Digitrax makes decoders.

10

I’ve used both and CVP and it’s system is 100% bullet-proof. And their customer support is second to none.
Everybody around here hates Digitrax.
And Bachmann’s attempt is pure JUNK!!! Like the rest of their stuff!
PP

11

Okay, I know that LocoNet’s good attributes, among others, are that it is stable, it has plenty of capacity and speed for all your DCC needs since it’s not a polled system, it uses commonly available (read: inexpensive) 6-conductor flat phone cable, and it carries all of the throttle/command station/etc traffic for complete computer integration, should you ever decide to do so.

So tell me, just what are these bad attributes you speak of?

Can’t a lot of things “go wrong” with any buss system if you do not know what you are doing?

Steve

12

Just do what most people do… follow the herd instinct.

13

Yes, I would like to know these bad attributes you speak of also!

BOB H - Clarion, PA

14

I find it funny how many people can’t seem to figure out how Digitrax systems work while others find it very simple. It kind of makes you wonder, lol. I’m a very happy Digitrax owner that can read a simple manual AND understand it. [%-)]

15

You know, I think so much of it is due to perception developed as a result of the earlier throttles. I don’t think that Digitrax does itself any favors by using symbols, but then again, they are clearly one of the few US DCC makers that has designed with non English speaking export in mind. (The development of the IR wireless is another example of this). It does not take much to figure out a Digitrax product from today. The Zephyr has to be one of the simplest systems to run on the market. The other area I think lets Digitrax down is the documentation. The Zephyr manual is not bad, but still is not as clear and concise as it might be. Just my 2 cents.

16

“Everybody around here hates Digitrax”? Wow. It’s amazing that all you Digitrax-haters are in one spot.

I’m curious too about Loconet’s bad attributes. Mind you, I’m not a Kool-aid drinker for Digitrax per se, but Loconet is peerless.

17

About a year and a half ago, I compared EasyDCC and Digitrax head-to-head for converting a friend’s layout from CTC-80. This layout covers a 40’ x 40’ area and has four engine facilities. The basic requirement is for a DCC system that supports radio throttles. There was no need to have signaling integrated into the DCC installation, or any kind of detection. This is a basic power-n-functions control installation.

Since either system would require replacing the CTC-80 receivers in the locomotives with DCC decoders, we eliminated that particular cost from the consideration, since it would cost the same no matter which DCC system we chose to use.

  1. Cost - In this case, there was a slight advantage to going with EasyDCC, but only because there was the possibility of converting the four CTC-80-compatible CVP radio throttles we have. This advantage is offset somewhat by the fact that additional Digitrax radio throttles would be less expensive.

  2. Ease of installation - This one went to Digitrax on subjective merits, because we already have the tools to strip/crimp connectors on phone cable-style wiring. Easy DCC uses coaxial cable for its throttle bus, which we just plain don’t like woirking with as much.

  3. Ease of use - This was pretty much a wash, until we got to the point where we considered the four engine terminals on the layout. Since consists could only be made up and broken down from the EasyDCC system’s single command console, this would have been very inconvenient for this installation.

  4. Expandability - At present, the Digitrax system is considerably more expandable into other areas (such as signalling and detection) than EasyDCC. For our requirements this wasn’t as much of a consideration, since the layout had been running successfully without any kind of signaling or detection for over 15 years and there are no plans to introduce them to the layout.

  5. Manufacturer warranty and support - Having dealt with both companies

18

I am a satisfied Digitrax Chief (radio) user. I have DT-100, DT-300, D-400 and UT-1 throttles. The new UT-4 throttles are much simpler to use, especially for layout visitors. The new DT-400 makes programming much easier, however I also have a computer based decoder programmer which is the way to go with any system.

If you consider operating sessions. Most operators dial up their consist and go. Programming should be done befor the operating session. If part of your operating system included putting locomotive consists together and beraking them up, a moderatelty experienced Digitrax user should have no problems.

I have not operated with CVP DCC, but I have operated with CVP Railcommand. The layout owner handed me the throttle and said GO! I operated with no problems, but my operating did not require me to do any programming. I would guess that both CVP DCC and Digitrax would be the same in this regard.

Both systems are good and have ther merits. I would recommend a test drive on a friends layout…“Try Before You Buy”…if possible.

Jim

19

just a quick side note … the digitrax signalling and detection system can be used independantly of the throttle system with any DCC system . basically one builds a loconet network using just the signalling and detection parts but not requiring a command station

20

Okay, we don’t have DCC, but we do have the Railcommand system from CVP. We’ve had the system since it’s very earliest stages and love it. If we hadn’t already had such a large investment in the command control stuff, we would have switched to DCC.

Our experience with CVP and with the founder, Keith, have been nothing short of fantastic. We built our first sytem and all out early decoders from kits. If we ran into a problem, we got them on the phone and they helped work us through it.

When we ran a cross a problem that stumped them, because we were doing something that had never been done before, they even solved that one after a few days.

We even had a near lightning strike a number of years ago and Keith told us exactly what parts to replace to put us back online. We have since put all the electronics on a good quality surge protector as a hedge against that happening again.

We do have the radio throttles that are the same as the ones used on the Easy DCC system and we love them. They are tough, good looking and easy to use. We have had operators of all ranges of skills pick them up and use them with about 30 seconds of instruction. The throttles fit your hand well, have intuitive controls (A knob! for speed control.) and we have had no problems with them. We have the radio throttle, flourescent lighting, crew radios, and various other electrically noisy things in the railroad room and the house above and none of it interferes with our operation. We have never had a problem with losing our trains or with someone taking control of our train by accident. The radio throttles are pretty much transparent in that they operate just like the plug-in walk-around throttles we also have.

If this sounds like a commercial for CVP, it is because we have had a great relationship with them over the years. They have always been helpful and have done repairs or exchanges on the rare occasions when something goes wrong.

Keith is a model railroader and